“I’ve never found that God asks us to do something that is within our means or within our resources. And so the Vision that we have is always going to be bigger than we currently are. They always call for faith and that’s why it’s so exciting because God calls us to do things that are beyond our abilities. So we’re relying on him. and his power to make it happen.”

If you are a C3 member and were told that your pastor, Phil Pringle, has been constantly lying to you about receiving direct visions and instructions from God just so he can manipulate you, what would you think? Would you shrug it off and keep attending C3? Would you feel disgusted that Phil Pringle abused your trust in him as a leader? Would you feel unclean that you are serving a man who is using your God to manipulate you for his own selfish ends?

God did not give Phil Pringle the 2020 Vision, nor did God give Phil Pringle and his leadership team a “strategy” to fulfill his 2020 Vision.

Christian Schwarz helped Pringle and his staff formulate the 2020 Vision and various strategies to see this come to pass. If C3 want to lay claim that God used the NCD to give Pringle the God-given 2020 Vision, then Pringle and C3 leadership still lied by omission. Why portray Phil Pringle in all their propaganda as a prophet receiving a timely vision from God to plant 1000 churches by the year 2020?

CHRISTAN A. SCHWARZ AND NATURAL CHURCH DEVELOPMENT?

The truth is that Christian Schwarz, the operations manager of the Natural Church Development Organization, helped Pringle and his staff formulate the 2020 Vision as well as the various strategies to see this Vision come to pass. A few years ago Schwarz interviewed Pringle’s close friend, Gordon Moore. Moore is the man who is speaking as a representative of the C3 Church movement in the video below. In this interview Gordon discloses where the 2020 Vision originally came from as well as the source of their church growth strategies. The proof that Pringle’s “God Given 2020 Vision,” as well as the strategies to carry it out, did not come from God is in the following statement from Gordon:

“We have formulated as a result of all of this [NCD workshops] our 2020 Vision which is to have a thousand churches with a average size of five hundred.”

So why hasn’t Phil Pringle and his leadership team told the truth about the fact that they were being led by the Natural Church Development strategies of Christian A Schwarz? Why lie? Might it be that Phil Pringle thought that if he convinced his congregation that it was God’s vision rather than his own that the people would support it? Who is Phil Pringle really trusting to lead his church?

These are serious questions considering the fact that people at C3 genuinely believe that Pringle is a prophet and gets direct visions, (like the 2020 Vision), from God. Trusting in, and following, false teachers and false prophets is one of the ways the devil keeps people from true faith and the true repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Moore also revealed his thoughts what would happen if C3 did not fulfill the Phil Pringle’s God-given 2020 Vision:

“However if we don’t, we’ll be pretty happy with the journey because we’re going to be healthy on the way through. But our feeling is that we’re probably going to do pretty well with our vision.”

There you have it folks. Gordon Moore does not care if Phil Pringle gets away with lying in the name of God to manipulate the tens of thousands throughout the C3 movement. If they fail the 2020 Vision, as long as people are “pretty happy with the journey”, why should Gordon Moore and Phil Pringle worry about desecrating the integrity and character of God? How can anyone in C3 feel “pretty happy” when these men boldly lie in the name of God to manipulate them?

If a prophet claims to speak and see on behalf of God and their claims do not come to pass, the bible in the Old Testament commanded that the false prophet be stoned. If these false prophets are found in the church, they are too be excommunicated and condemned for their lies and blasphemy. However, such action in C3 culture is considered to be “unloving”. As we have documented continually, C3 loves their false prophet to the point that they will demonise and slander those that question their prophets behaviours outside their church.

Our question to C3 members who wish to defend the blatant lies of Phil Pringle:

If Pringle comes to you and rips you off blind with his lies and false visions, why do you put up with it?

We will be looking more at the Natural Church Development organization as time progresses.

Christian: “We just spent a wonderful evening with Gordon Moore here in the restaurant in Brisbane. But he discussed and shared a lot about experiences that this church has made. Uh, Gordon, your representing the C3 Churches which is according to our research, the healthiest denomination that we are aware of. At the same time the denomination that applies the principles of NCD most consistently. Can you share about what roll National Church Development play in your overall strategy.”

Gordon Moore: “Uh, sure Christian. First of all I’d like to say thank you very much for coming to Australia. We’ve been really looking forward to sharing with you and hearing from you. Um. NCD has probably been the one of the greatest tools we have encountered. I guess first of all in our journey as a movement of churches we started out very organically. Uh, naturally with a move of God and just seeking to plant churches. We found that NCD helped us bring that empirical evidence of growth and health in the life of the church. So our movement has embraced NCD as our number one health analysis tool. We use it in oversight. We encourage all our churches to do this. But we go further than that. We actually take the results and the consultation that comes from your team and seek to apply that to the local church level and also the nation and to all our churches in the movement.

Christian: “Let’s us ask real quickly. Where do you expect your movement to be in the year 2020?”

Gordon Moore: “Funny you should say that Christian. We’ve formulated as a result of all of this our 2020 Vision which is to have a thousand churches with a average size of five hundred. The thousand churches is our quantitative vision that we look for growth, we look for the kingdom of God to grow in advance and also the five hundred average size is a quality measurement. Where after a “kind-of” church. A church that ranges somewhere between four hundred and eight hundred, that has a team that is viable, that has the resources to go out, plant churches and fulfill the commission of Christ.”

Christian: “And if we meet again in eight years from now, will you say, ‘We have arrived there’ or do you sense that you will be far away from that?”

Gordon Moore: “We’re on track to meet that. However if we don’t, we’ll be pretty happy with the journey because we’re going to be healthy on the way through. But our feeling is that we’re probably going to do pretty well with our vision. I mean if you aim at nothing you’re gonna hit it every time, right? So we believe that having a vision is important but the most important thing is that we are vitally connected to Christ and our lives our healthy. And that reflects in our churches as well. That our churches are healthy communities that are growing and manifesting Christ to a needy world.”

“Warren Bennis, as quoted in In Search of Excellence, calls the leader a “social architect.” When a leader is a God-person, a God-seeker, vision is planted deep inside. God often speaks in pictures to God-seekers, especially to leaders. Pictures are the visual language of the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s blueprints for what He wants to build.” – Phil Pringle, You The Leader, 2005, pg 34.

Keep the above in mind as you watch this 2020 Vision campaign video.

Sorry – this is the 2020 Vision campaign video.

Here is the transcript.

TRANSCRIPT

“In the beginning, God gives us vision. This vision is to build the church worldwide. Building the church is God’s top priority in this generation. You and I are called to bring people to Christ, to make disciples and to release those people into ministry within our churches and beyond. And by doing this, we will fulfill the heavenly vision.”

VISION BUILDS FAITH

“Vision from God always boosts faith from the inside of your soul. As soon as we hear the magnitude of what God is calling us to do, we find faith rising on the inside that this is possible. Just like Joshua knew he could take the land of Canaan, so we know that we can build the church around the world.”

FAITH BUILDS INTENTION

“Every vision is just a fantasy without a plan. God has given us a strategy and as we follow that pathway, we will find ourselves expanding right around the world. We will raise up thousands of leaders, connect group leaders, worship leaders, assistant leaders, leaders of churches. People who will work to build the house of God and fulfill this dream God has put in our hearts.”

INTENTION BRINGS ACTION

“Faith without action is dead. Just believing that this vision is going to happen wont make it happen. This vision calls for action. It calls for people to step out. It calls for sacrifice. It calls for stretching. It calls for raising ourselves up to a level we’ve never been before. This action has taken us from seventy one churches in the year two thousand to over three hundred today. It’s taken us from five nations to thirty five nations. And today, we have influence in two hundred cities around the world.

ACTION BRINGS MOMENTUM

This momentum turns a small snowball into a massive avalanche. It’s the power of compounding effort. You and I are involved in a gathering momentum of the great power of God.

AND THE MOMENTUM OF GOD

IS UNSTOPPABLE

Because of this momentum, we are seeing six hundred people around the globe come to Christ every week in C3 churches. Because of this momentum, we’re seeing nearly thirty thousand come to Christ every year. Because of this momentum, each week seventy five thousand people are gathering to worship God. God in heaven is with us. It’s his mighty plan to build his church on the earth.

Together you and I are going to see this amazing thing come to pass. You are part of the history making group of people that are changing planet earth as we fulfill the 2020 Vision.”

CRITIQUE

It is of our opinion Pringle is purposely blurring the lines with the great commission and His 2020 Vision to get people to commit themselves to his movement and not to the true commission of Jesus Christ. If the 2020 Vision was the ‘vision’ that God gave Christians in Matthew 28 this is perfectly fine. Jesus can give us the faith to go out into the world and make disciples in His name. But is this what Pringle is reinforcing?

Not at all. Pringle opens up with the following claim: “In the beginning, God gives us vision”. Already we are off to a bad start. Where on earth does the bible teach this?

Pringle adds his own unbiblical theology into his New Age doctrine on vision: “Vision from God always boosts faith from the inside of your soul. As soon as we hear the magnitude of what God is calling us to do, we find faith rising on the inside that this is possible”.

Where on earth did he get this from? His liver shivers? Notice also his allusion to him being a ‘Joshua’ in this video when he says, “Just like Joshua knew he could take the land of Canaan, so we know that we can build the church around the world.””.

But who gave Joshua the strategy to “take the land of Canaan”? God.
So who supposedly gave Pringle the “strategy” to “build the church around the world”? God.

Is Phil Pringle your Joshua?

This is nothing but subliminal advertising again. While the C3 Media flash snippets of Pringle’s 2020 Vision (“1000 churches”, “500 members”), Pringle claims that “God has given us a strategy”. Wasn’t the biblical Great Commission strategy enough?

This indicates that God has given a vision to Pringle that surpasses that of Jesus’ great commission. Why can’t C3 simply follow Jesus’ commission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”?

And what is this God-given strategy? Pringle says that if Christians are to “follow [the strategy’s] pathway, we will find ourselves expanding right around the world”. What a claim!

Whatever happens do not question the churches strategies. To do so is to challenge God. Not Pringle. Not C3 leadership. Not C3 church. But God.

Pringle then goes on to purposely misappropriate and reword the scripture in James 2 to his advantage. He reworded the scripture “faith without works is dead” to “faith without action is dead”. He then used this verse to convince his listeners to get on board with his 2020 Vision. A pastor should NOT use the scriptures for his gain like this. Pringle used this scripture to justify people to submit to his divine authority through the infallible 2020 vision God supposedly gave him.

For Pringle to claim God gave him a divine vision and strategy to fulfill but has the audacity to twist his God’s Word like this is satanic. This was not an accident. This was scripted. This was a deliberate tactic to con people to side with his vision.

Using Nazi ideas – the volk

Furthermore, God can’t fulfill His vision without your help! You must help God! Pringle says, “Just believing that this vision is going to happen wont make it happen. This vision calls for action. It calls for people to step out. It calls for sacrifice. It calls for stretching. It calls for raising ourselves up to a level we’ve never been to before.”

Behind all this vision talk is a very Hitler-esque push. Pringle is elevating and attributing a human ‘power’ or a ‘force’ to God. According to Pringle this, “momentum [that] turns a small snowball into a massive avalanche” is the “great power of God”. No. This is volkism. A Nazi philosophy. In Hitler’s work “Mein Kampf” (1923), he let us understand some key points what the ‘volk’ was and how the ‘volk’ worked. Here is a good summary of the volk:

In his book ‘Mein Kampf’ (‘My Struggle’) published in 1923, Hitler set out quite clearly his political ideas. They can be summarised as follows:

… Mankind’s natural unit is the Volk, or people, of which the German Volk is the greatest.

The state only exists to serve the Volk, and both morality and truth are to be subservient to this principle.

The Volk must be headed by a Fuhrer, or leader, who must have absolute authority.

Hitler says about the leader of the volk,

“In that way an eternal ideal, which has everlasting significance as a guiding star to mankind, must be adapted to the exigencies of human frailty so that its practical effect may not be frustrated at the very outset through those shortcomings which are general to mankind. The exponent of truth must here go hand in hand with him who has a practical knowledge of the soul of the people, so that from the realm of eternal verities and ideals what is suited to the capacities of human nature may be selected and given practical form.”

So are we really seeing a move of God Pringle? Or are we seeing you behave like a “social architect”, to construct a volk for your own personal interests? Isn’t God communicating to you the “language of the Holy Spirit to reveal [His] blueprints for what He wants to build”? Or are you playing with peoples ideals to manipulate them to further your agendas? Jesus Christ said,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

What then does Jesus tell us to do?

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

We are seeing the reverse with the 2020 vision. God supposedly has bent the knee to Pringle and given Phil the authority in heaven and earth through the “2020 Vision” to make people and churches join his volk (“the great power of God”).

Pringle is not saying the “power of God’ is emphasised through the preaching of the gospel which proclaims that Jesus is The Power and The Authority of God personified. Instead Pringle is pushing the idea that thy volk is truth and power, insisting that you be “part of the history making group of people that are changing planet earth as we fulfill the 2020 Vision”.

Can you see what is taking the focus now? Not Christ and his great commission. The focus is now on Pringle, his 2020 vision and those who bend the knee to it in his movement. Pringle’s battle cry is for you to be part of a history making crew that are changing the world because they are fulfilling the 2020 Vision.

So it should be established that Pringle is using clever marketing gimmicks and lies to deceive his congregation into accepting his fuhrer’s vision. This is man is making his own church with out God’s Spirit. Pringle is teaching the power of God is emphasised through the volk under his “god-given” vision and “god-given” strategy.

A Demonic Faith

The scriptures make it clear that it is God alone that gives us the faith to believe through Christ. Not so with Pringle. Pringle says,

VISION BUILDS FAITH

“Vision from God always boosts faith from the inside of your soul. As soon as we hear the magnitude of what God is calling us to do, we find faith rising on the inside that this is possible.”

However, the writer of Hebrews doesn’t tell us to look to visions to build faith. Nor does the writer tell us that visions “from God always boosts faith from the inside of your soul”. Nor does the writer say that when “we hear the magnitude of what God is calling us to do, we find faith rising on the inside that this is possible”. Instead, we read this:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

Whatever gave this vision and teaching to Phil Pringle is not of God. Phil Pringle has replaced God with himself, speaking his own CEO vision to condition people and control them for his own agenda. Let us be clear: when Phil Pringle is speaking the vision to his congregation, they are NOT hearing “the magnitude of what God is calling [them] to do”. They are not “faith rising on the inside”. Instead, scriptures CLEARLY say this:

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17

This vision is nothing but a “weight” which members at C3 should “also lay aside”. Hopefully we have made it clear that this is Pringle’s vision – not God’s. This vision is nothing but a godly facade hiding the fact that:

Pringle is calling YOU to action.

Pringle is calling YOU to step out.

Pringle is calling YOU to sacrifice whatever it takes to accomplish his desires.

This is very different to what we see Luke observing in the early church.

” … the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” – Acts 2:47

As Paul said to the church in Galatians:

“Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.”

Around the world for almost ten years, Phil Pringle has been promoting his 20/20 Vision. While we do not believe this vision is from God, we think it is necessary to see if Phil Pringle is indeed fulfilling the vision that ‘God’ gave him.

In this article we wish to document Pringle’s emphasis of PLANTING churches by the year 2020. We apologise to readers in advance if what is stressed in this article becomes monotonous. Hopefully, you’ll understand what we’re trying to establish in articles to come.

PLANTING 1000 CHURCHES BY THE YEAR 2020?

CHC’s propaganda paper, City News reports (emphasis ours):

C3 Church International, a global movement of over 240 churches was founded by Phil Pringle.

Pringle and his wife, Christine, started C3 Church in 1980 in Sydney, Australia, today, one of the most exciting and influential churches in the Asia Pacific region. Pringle’s 2020 vision is to plant 1,000 churches in 15 regions by the year 2020. This has resulted in a global movement of vibrant churches, which have been birthed as a result of his leadership and vision. Today, Pringle maintains an uncompromised passion to see cities changed by a contemporary, relevant and anointed church.

Last held in Hawaii in 2005 with an attendance of 1,100 people, the conference is part of the C3 Church movement started by Phil and Christine Pringle, senior ministers at C3 Church Oxford Falls, in Sydney, Australia. Its vision, termed “Vision 2020” is to see 1,000 churches planted by the year 2020 with an average attendance of 500 members.

Through Vision 2020, the C3 movement has grown from 71 churches in 2000 to over 300 today; from five nations in 2000 to 35 nations today, riding on an escalating momentum of revival around the world.”

In 1980, a young couple from New Zealand arrived in Sydney with their family and the vision to start a church.

Ps. Phil and Chris Pringle held their first service with just 12 people attending, but by the mid 1980’s it had grown to over 500 people. They began to start other churches and soon independent churches also joined. As the number grew, the collection of churches became known as the Christian City Church movement (now called C3 Church).

Initially C3 began planting churches around Sydney but then expanded across Australia and then the world. Currently, C3 Church has over 230 churches worldwide – in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Region, Asia, Africa, Europe and North & South America.

The 2020 Vision is to plant and grow 1000 churches and C3 understands that to achieve this it must connect people to God, connect people to people and empower people for effective, joyful service.

Our History

C3 ChurchinRaleigh is a part of C3 Church International, a global movement of churches started by Ps. Phil and Christine Pringle, with a vision to build 1,000 vibrant local churches with an average membership of 500 by the year 2020.

We believe in faith, hope and love, a bright, colorful, positive and encouraging church atmosphere
a church that the unchurched are attracted to, filled with music, light, supernatural happenings,
vision, purpose, loving people, and great preaching.

We are irreverent, risky, fun, conservative, serious and holy.
We love people. We love each other. We really love God, and He loves us.

The above blurb helps us identify what C3 means by ‘plant’ when they say that Phil and Chris Pringle had “a vision to build 1,000 vibrant local churches”. The concept that is being articulated is similar to a seed. You plant a seed in the ground and it grows or builds up over time. Likewise, Pringle’s ‘vision’ gives people the idea that C3 plants a few people in a particular location and over time it grows or builds up to be a church. This concept is important for our readers to grasp.

Similar information is recorded on the C3 Winchcombe website:

“C3 Church Winchcombe is a part of C3 Church Global, an international movement of churches started by Ps. Phil and Christine Pringle, with a vision to build 1,000 vibrant local churches with an average membership of 500 by the year 2020.” – Let’s Introduce Ourselves, http://www.c3winchcombe.org.uk/about.html, Accessed 10/01/2012.

We can conclude that there is a template for other C3 churches to use on their websites, communicating that the Pringle’s want to plant and build 1,000 churches by the year 2020.

If we now go to the c3iglobal website we read the following,

“Our vision for C3 Church is to see 1000 Churches planted by the year 2020 with an average attendance of 500 members.” – 2020 Vision, C3 Church Global, http://c3churchglobal.com/cms/2020-vision. (Accessed 14/06/2013.)

Phil Pringle says in his personal bio on his very own C3 Church Oxford Falls website,

“My wife, Chris and I, with the kids and some good friends came to Sydney in 1980 to start a church. We had 13 people at our first service but the congregation grew rapidly and we moved buildings, bought land and built a school. We began planting churches around Sydney, then Australia, then the world; we now have close to 300 congregations in our movement. Our 2020 Vision is to plant and grow 1000 churches and we’re on target to meet this.” – About Phil & Chris Pringle, http://www2.myc3church.net/category/about-phil-chris-pringle, Accessed 30/07/2013. (Emphasis added.)

The C3ChurchGlobal website states:

“C3 Church is a place for life development. Our aim is to maximize people’s potential and help them live their best life.

Our vision is that the Church glows with the Glory of God, that men and women become disciples of Christ, and that they encounter the Presence of the Holy Spirit—they find LIFE!

This is an exciting time for C3 Church. We have a global view and perspective. We know who we are and where we’re going. Jesus said, “I will build my church.” The one Kingdom that will endure and has endured is the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Our true north is the salvation of lost people.

We will continue to plant churches all over the world so God can be found and lives transformed for eternity. By the year 2020, we will see 1000 C3 Churches in cities all over the world.

There is a lot of stuff that is wrong in the above statement which we will hopefully address in another article. However, it is emphasised again that Pringle wants to 1000 C3 Churches all over the world. His 2020 Vision is about PLANTING churches. Not rebranding churches, not converting a person who feels they have a church inside them.

Pringle has centered his C3 movement identity around the vision God gave him of ‘planting’ 1000 C3 Churches. If this is the vision God gave Pringle, you would expect Pringle to remain faithful to it right? Our next article will demonstrate that Pringle has been purposely deceptive about his 2020 Vision campaign.

We will end with what Phil Pringle says on his official Facebook page:

About

The official page for Phil Pringle.This page will not ask for any form of donation.If you receive a solicitation, pls contact rebekah.faith@myc3church.net

Biography

Phil Pringle is the Founder and President of C3 Church International, a global movement of over 240 churches, and the Senior Minister of C3 Church in Sydney Australia. Phil and his wife, Christine, started C3 Church in 1980 and it is now one of the fastest growing, exciting and powerful churches in Australia. An entire global movement of vibrant churches has been birthed as a result of Phil’s lead…ership and vision as he maintains an uncompromised passion to see cities changed by a contemporary, relevant and anointed church. Phil’s dynamic and relevant preaching has made him a much sought after speaker in both Christian and secular contexts, particularly in the areas of faith, leadership, ministry of the Holy Spirit, church building and kingdom principles of finance and giving.

My wife, Chris and I, with the kids and some good friends came to Sydney from New Zealand in 1980 to start a church. We had 13 people at our first service but the congregation grew rapidly and we moved buildings, bought land and built a school. We began planting churches around Sydney, then Australia, then the world; we now have close to 300 congregations in our movement. Our 2020 Vision is to plant and grow 1000 churches and we’re on target to meet this!

We’ve started C3 College for Ministry, Creative Arts and Counselling, as well as a television program and Oxford Falls Grammar School, all on around 25 acres at Oxford Falls.

I’ve always been passionate about the arts playing a major role in church to make her contemporary and relevant to the current world. Our Creative Arts stream has developed and graduated thousands of musicians, worship leaders, song writers, graphic artists, dancers, actors and film makers. I myself paint and exhibit around the world. I also love to write, so I’ve mixed these two elements together in books like Inspired to Pray, But God and 24 Hours That Saved The World – The Gospel of John in Art. My other books include Faith, Moving in the Spirit, Leadership Excellence, Financial Excellence, Leadership Files and You the Leader.

My great love is the local church. I believe she is the hope of our world today. When she functions in the power of the Holy Spirit and lives on the Word she will thrive. See you in Church!

“If you are the Son of God, speak to these stones to become loaves of bread.” Matthew 4:3

Jesus responded with the following.

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4

Just like Satan, Pringle below is teaching the Body of Jesus Christ to speak to their difficulties to become mammon. In fact, we have written in the past how Pringle’s idea of faith is practically connected to the ‘faith’ of the occult.

This video reveals Pringle’s inept ability to handle scripture correctly to justify his pagan faith. Pringle reduces Jesus (the Word of God Himself),to a tool, wand, law and principle, to prophesy (to speak or confess) things into existence. It becomes evident that Pringle’s double speak reveals that his confession is “Jesus is law” not Lord. For someone who doesn’t “box God” or “limit God”, Pringle does a tremendous job of enslaving God to serve his lips and heart. (See more double-speak towards end of the article.)

To Pringle, Jesus is nothing but a pagan entity summoned to fulfill Pringle’s desires. D.R. McConnell and Hank Hanegraaf document how Word Of Faith heretics like Pringle deify man and reduce the sovereignty of Christ, their historical research linking these heretical teachings to the teaching one finds in the occult. As a result of Pringle’s occult teachings, Pringle’s mutilation of the biblical texts is horrendous.

Pringle’s use of John 1 is highly blasphemous. For a start we were never in the beginning with God. To allegorise John 1 to say our beginning is 2011 and we can have the laws of the Word to speak to our future is delusional at best. The use of these biblical passages are so rorted, it is hard to dispute rationally how Pringle is so inept. Nothing in John 1 supports Pringle’s claim that we are to speak to our new year beginnings to get the things we want in the future.

Pringle’s use of Mark 11:12-14; 20-25 is not teaching us to speak to our sickness and debts in ‘faith’. While Pringle also uses “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” (Proverbs 18:21), he treats this to be some kind of magic ritual to summon Jesus like a pagan God to do the things Pringle desires. But this passage simply talks about the influential power the tongue has over our lives and others so we can reap blessing or destruction.

Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:18-23

He is turned the church’s universal faith confession of Christ’s finished work into a money-grubby, confess-for-gain magic formula. He also unashamedly lies about what Jesus says in the bible. Jesus does not say, “You’re dried up from the roots.”

Different Spirit, Different Jesus, Different Message

Below is the transcript:

“This morning, I want to talk about creating a future. Not just trying to weather forecast what’s going to happen but actually making what’s going to happen, happen. You become partners with God in creating a future. And the greatest tool that I know for making that happen is prophesying.

One of the reasons the bible has- about one third of it’s statements are prophecies- or written by prophets, is because if they didn’t say it, it wouldn’t happen. God makes things happen through words. God created the universe through words. And at the beginning of a new year like 2012, in the beginning was the Word. Amen!

So I want us to be able to have in our lives . . . I believe in our lives we can have this Word. And we find this Word is God. That’s the amazing thing. When you speak the Word of God into a circumstance, you’re not just speaking words. You’re actually speaking God into a situation.

You can never afford to underestimate the power of your words. You have the power of life or death in your tongue. And one of the first things the devil will try and do in your world is destroy your confession or your profession, try and mangle your words or corrupt your speech so that you find yourself constantly complaining, declaring negative things about your life. “I’m to this, I’m too old, I’m too big, not skilled enough, that’ll never happen for me, this modemo [?] doesn’t work, my car’s so old, I never have enough money-“

People say that sort of stuff all day long and wonder why their lives are so awful You have got to change your mouth. You’ve got to let your tonguebe born again. I mean I know that the money issue is a big issue for some people but THIS is even bigger. I think it’s easy to convert my wallet than it is to convert my tongue. God is so specific about it all the way through scripture – ‘In the beginning’ of 2012, what are you going to prophesy about this year? What are you going to say? “Yeah I’ve tried that before but things went wrong.”

Did you keep on saying it? “No. I just agreed with the wrong things.” That’s called walking by sight not by faith. Cos you see the things that are going wrong and you’re saying, “All things are going wrong.”

You’re meant to walk by the Word Of God and speak what it’s saying, no matter how long it takes for that circumstance to conform to the reality you are speaking. Your reality is a higher reality then what’s surrounding you. It doesn’t negate it. I’m not talking about some denial or a Christian Science thinking where we don’t even acknowledge that there is evil. No there is evil. There’s things that go wrong. No denying that!

But you see, one law defeats another law in the worlds of God. Okay, their is a law of gravity. There’s a law of gravity. It’s very powerful law. It works all day long. It works as you get older in a very serious manner, amen.

There’s this gravity that pulls- keeps us on earth! It’s good. But it makes things fall. But you know? There’s a law of aerodynamics. You can overcome the law of gravity. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It just means you found a law that overcomes another law. And if you push the thing forward with a certain winged structure, you lift off and gravity has no power over you. You’ve beaten it.

[5:19] And so when you have things going wrong in your life, there is a law by which you can actually transform that thing. And that’s by understanding that in the beginning of anything that God does, is the Word. At the beginning. It’s the seed of your future.

The beginning of this year, 2012, make sure the Word, the Word of God is in your lips. and the Word about this coming year. OK. Now we suddenly go to a new word here. He was in the beginning. When Jesus was on earth, He went about doing good in healing all who were oppressed by the devil. [6:02] The Word is Jesus. It’s not an ‘it’. It’s ‘He’ was in the beginning with God.

[6:10] As soon as you start speaking the bible, the scriptures, into your circumstance, Jesus leaps out of your mouth and starts walking into your circumstance, casting out demons, healing the sick, stilling the storm, walking on water supernaturally, making things happen that wouldn’t happen unless you did it.

[6:31]Here’s the thing guys. When I first discovered this, which was nearly forty years ago, I- I was nervous about sharing it with anybody. Cos I thought, ‘If they get a hold of this, there will be too much competition. This is really good! It works! Aw! I’m not going to tell anybody! It’s like I got a secret here that-‘

The Lord said, ‘Share it and I’ll give you more’.

‘Alright.’ So I shared it. But I didn’t need to worry. I don’t need to worry at all. Cos nobody does it. You see cos you’re sitting here going, ‘Yeah! Yeah! Yeah’ but you’re going to walk out of here. You gotta do this!”

It’s not agreeing with me going, “Yeah! Amen! Wow! That’s powerful!

[8:00] “I’m talking about a thing called the Word of God. And it is more enduring and powerful than anything you’ve got within your reach. And when you start to speak that, you’re putting something into your world, into your future that is undefeatable because it’s Jesus Himself. And they tried to crucify him once. It didn’t work. He’s a get-up-and-go kinda guy. And he just got up out of that grave. Death couldn’t hold him. Sickness couldn’t hold him. Killing him couldn’t hold him. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in your circumstance, it can’t hold you down if you’ll put the Word of God into your circumstance. Resurrection comes into your finances, comes into your family, comes into your home, comes into your people, into your work, into every area of your life.

He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him. Oh- now you got me going. . .

[10:04] All things were made by Him. Not evolved. They were made complete and finished. They were complete. We’re going the other way guys! We’re not going up. We’re gonna- the earth is going to fold up and all be gone. I- and you know I’m just grieving. If it was anybody, I would save the tigers. But the fact is, is- the deal is that the bible says, “Oh! It’s decaying. It’s physical. It’s got a lifespan. It’s got a shelf-life.” He says, “I’m making you a new eternal home.” And he only took six days with this one. He’s taken two thousand years with the other one. The new one. Can you imagine what it’s gonna be like? This place is pretty amazing.

So here He is. All things are made by Him and without Him, nothing was made that was made. Everything’s beautiful in the world. Jesus is beautiful. Mountains, oceans, bananas, pelicans, you. It’s all beautiful! Mostly. Amen! No, you are!

Without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life. The life was the light of men. Light shines in the darkness and the darkness didn’t comprehend it. Or in other versions, ‘did not overcome it’. All right!

So, God’s spoke and said, ‘Let there be light’. That’s how He did it. What are you going to prophesy over your year ahead? What are you gonna say?

And once you’ve stated it, Hebrews 10:23 here says, “Let us hold fast the confession-” that word is also profession, which is a Greek word: homologia. And that means to speak the same thing. I’m writing in tongues.

Let us hold fast the profession- hold it fast cos it slips away. Your salvation is based on this: “He who believes with his heart and confesses with his mouth, Jesus Christ is Lord shall be saved.”

And so here’s the thing. Once you’ve got this profession in your life. This confession of hope or this confession of faith, without wavering, you’ll discover that God is able to bring to pass the words you are speaking. When you combine what you are wanting to happen with God’s Word, you’ll find faith comes on the inside of you to actually bring it to pass.

Jesus did this . . . over in Mark 11 verse- when he’s speaking about a fig tree. It says, “Now in the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.” I mean, some of you got some stuff you needed dried up from the roots. But a- he says, “And Peter remembering him remembering him said, Rabbi, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered away. So Jesus answered him and said, Have faith in God. I say to you, Whosoever says to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea; and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things that he says will come to pass; he shall have whatever he says.”

[13:28] The reason you need to hold fast the confessional profession of your faith, is because once you start speaking it, [it] doesn’t immediately appear to change anything. It’s not a Harry Potter magic wand thing. Woo! BAM!!! And it just changes.

When Jesus spoke to that fig tree nothing looked different. It looked exactly the same. The surprise was the disciples the next day saying, “Look! That fig tree’s now died!” It didn’t look dead yesterday the way- leaves are still waving in the wind. Your debts are hanging around in the wind. The sickness is still waving in the wind. Leaves are still there. The tree’s looking good. But Jesus said, “You’re dried up from the roots.” But it was still there. It still looked alive.

It took a day to take effect. If Jesus’ words take a day to effect, you should not be worried if something you’re saying is taking a year. Amen. He did live on a slightly different plain to the rest of us. So what you are saying with your mouth is forming your world. And if you are unhappy with your would as it is, the thing that changes is not to try to change your world but change the thing that’s making your world, which is your mouth. And you have complete control and government over that thing.

But you know, you know James says the tongue, is very hard to control. Slippery little sucker aint it and you know. Kay. It just comes out. And isn’t it awful when you something and you’re- and it’s gone out and you’re going, “I wish I didn’t say that.” And you want to pull it back. It’s a very powerful thing, your mouth. You don’t want to underestimate it and think, “I can say what I like. But God’s still bigger- He’s gonna make things happen. He’s given you laws to live by, principles to live by- and you can’t blame Him for stuff actually has comes out of our activities.

There’s no good- if you drive on the wrong side of the road and you have a smash, don’t go down to the Roads & Traffic Authorities saying, “Hey! I had a smash you guys!” They’ll say, “What side of the road were you driving on?”

“Well, I drove on that side. I just felt like I wanted to. You know. It’s my time to drive on the other side of the road.” Well that’s – you missed the point. We do it because it’s not our fault. We have got responsibility for saying, “You know what? I’ going to use my tongue as a powerful instrument for creating the future. In the beginning of 2012, I resolve inside my self, that I’m going to control this sucker. And I’m actually gonna bring about all kinds of beautiful things in my life because God has given me the power of creativity. I’m a child of a creator. [15:55] And in my life is the same genetic code that’s in His life. He created by speaking. I am- like a child of His, will create my world by speaking into it in Jesus name.” And every body said: Amen.”

Jesus is Pringle’s wand to get what he wants. His allusions to witch craft (Harry Potter) and Christian Science indicates he possibly knows what he is peddling. If he is dead honest in his confession that ‘God’ spoke to him about this ‘secret’ , then he has heard from a demon. Pringle’s faith is not taught in Christianity. But his teaching is promoted in the metaphysical cults and the occult. Ronda Byrne’s book, ‘The Secret’ reveals Pringle’s true spirituality. Read here.

If you follow this article, we record Pringle teaching people they are “involved with a person, not just a principle, living this Christian life is a whole lot different.” This is clearly double speak again.

Finally, to stress emphatically the source of this teaching, we would like to point out Pringle saying,

“When I first discovered this, which was nearly forty years ago, I- I was nervous about sharing it with anybody. Cos I thought, ‘If they get a hold of this, there will be too much competition. This is really good! It works! Aw! I’m not going to tell anybody! It’s like I got a secret here that-‘

The Lord said, ‘Share it and I’ll give you more’.”

Pringle indeed has “a secret”. Once you compare Pringle’s faith to New Age Rhonda Byrne’s ‘faith’ in her book ‘The Secret’ above, a plausible claim can be made that Pringle is receiving a demonic doctrine. Pringle has made a deal with a spirit that is not of God. This spirit is not the Holy Spirit. It is not God. Why? Jesus says this about the Holy Spirit,

“Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:7-12

The spirit Pringle got this ‘secret’ from simply reduced Jesus to a spiritual law, confined to a sinners lips. It glorifies the sinner and takes glory away from God. This spirit has convinced Pringle that he could be like Jesus and speak to his circumstantial stones to become mammon.

It is sad to see such a man applauded by a congregation who does not test his teachings against God’s Word. If you feel led, please pray for Phil Pringle and those in the C3 movement who are deceived by his false teachings.

Last year at Pringle’s Kuala Lumpur ‘Vision 2020 C3 Church Global Conference’, Pringle had this to say about “intellectual idiots” versus the spiritually passionate.

“Think of people in your church that are on fire. Charles Finney said, “The people who are on fire in your church are the people who are reaching the world”. If your youth are on fire, you’re gonna reach youth. So that is why you should be attempting to get every group of person on fire in your church.

Now if you were to think through your people, some of the times, the people who are on fire are the least equipped to do the job. But I would say passion is the first prerequisite. The last thing I want is a well educated idiot – drip, trying to lead our people. Just because he’s got education. Or a well-versed orator or whatever. I want anointed, on-fire, people who’ve got passion in their soul and they will set your church on fire. Keeping the fire in your church is really important.”

In the above segment Pringle teaches how to get someone on “fire”. It’s not the preaching of the gospel. It’s the truth of God’s Word. It’s behavioural control.

The bible doesn’t teach this insanity. It is obvious that Pringle has abandoned the truth to stir people up and has exchanged the truth to promote lies. It seems pretty clear that Pringle wants all his pastors through out his movement to use these cult-like techniques to control people.

But what does this mean? What is this saying about those in C3 leadership? If Pringle reacts against intellectualism, then what is the implication of those in C3 leadership? Are they considered stupid because they fell for Pringle’s manipulative techniques? Are they solely there because Pringle keeps manufacturing revivals to fool them to keep going? Are they passionately pursuing the carrot Pringle is hovering over their faces? Will they ever be like Pringle?

If anything – this echoes what Chris Rosebrough is investigating at ‘Fighting For the Faith’. We invite readers to compare what Chris Rosebrough is exploring in relation to Pringle’s behaviour, teaching and methodologies above. (Please fully investigate this resource and listen to the lectures.)

Pringle made the above commentary in 2011. However, in this years 2012 Presence Conference, Pringle said something almost identical.

Let’s face it – it’s pretty dumb to say this again, considering the fact that at Presence Conference 2012 onlookers from other churches were present.

One has to ask the question: Why is Pringle all for passionate spirituality but not intellectual spirituality? Do you think Pringle appeals to peoples emotions over their intellect so he can control them for his gain?

It grieves us to see this kind of behaviour endorsed in high places. Please pray for Phil Pringle and the C3 movement. No one deserves to be treated like this. If you feel lead, please pray for change.

“Some people ask me if they should tithe on the net or the gross amount. I tell them I’m the wrong person to ask if they’re looking for an easy answer. God should come first, before the government, in His claim on our finances. I’ll bet Jesus is pretty weary of being at the end of the line, waiting for our meager leftovers. He shouldn’t even be in the line! He gets the first of all our income, not the IRS, not the medical insurers, not the bills, not the kids, not the vacation, not the recreational vehicles. Our tithe comes from all the money we earn, which includes the amount we earn that goes to pay our income taxes. In simple terms, my answer is that we should tithe on our gross income, which means all of our income-whether it is gifts, benefits, dividends, earned income-anything that brings financial increase to us. One-tenth of it all belongs to God. That’s not too much to ask of a God who gave it all to us in the first place.

We must realize that tithing is only the beginning of giving. Once we have given God the tithe that belongs to Him, we can then begin to give offerings to the Lord that are above and beyond the tithe…and bring above and beyond abundance!” – Phil Pringle, Keys To Financial Excellence, 2003, pg. 81-82.

Would you say this is good financial advice from Phil Pringle? We encourage readers to compare the last paragraph above to the Vision Builders brochures.

If you want to know how to access this from C3, first go to the C3 Church website at http://www.myc3church.net. On the drop down menu at the top, roll over ‘COMMUNITY’ button and click on ‘VISION BUILDERS’ (not the new drop down menu that pops up).

Scroll to the bottom of the ‘Vision Builders’ page and you will see a pdf link titled, ‘VISION BUILDERS E-BROCHURE’.

On page 10 of this e-brochure, we read something familiar:

“I am in significant debt , should I pay off my debts or give to Vision Builders?

Once again, C3 is exploiting the poor in their congregation. This is the third year C3 Church is giving crippling advice to those who have no money. Why is this immoral behaviour from C3 continuing in the name of God?

We also found the following information on the myc3church website. (From http://www2.myc3church.net/vbpartners.) This below information will be useful for a future C3 Church Watch article.

Partner With Vision Builders
How Can Be Part Of Vision Builders
1) Prayerfully consider the level of giving that you feel is appropriate for you. Your decision should be based on both faith and wisdom. Remember, the philosophy of Vision Builders is equal sacrifice not equal giving.

2) Make a formal commitment to give on a Vision Builders commitment card during the Vision Builders campaign. You will have an opportunity to make your commitment during the Weekend services of 20/21 and 27/28 June by completing a commitment card. Alternatively, you can obtain a commitment card at any time from the Information Desk in the church foyer.

3) SERVING: Choose your method of fulfillment regular payment – This is one of the most successful ways to fulfill your commitment by making a regular weekly or monthly contribution. Regular giving is rewarding and quickly builds as illustrated in the table below.

PAYMENT PLANS

Weekly

Monthly

Annually

10

43

520

20

86

1,040

40

173

2,080

80

346

4,160

150

650

7,800

300

1,300

15,600

500

2,166

26,000

1,000

4,332

52,000

Salary Sacrifice: You can arrange with your employer to make a deduction from your salary each pay before tax. Please contact the C3 Church Accounts Department to organise.

Direct Transfer: Can be arranged through your employer or bank. Your bank can arrange regular transfers to occur automatically. You can also organise regular payments via the Internet banking. Again please contact the C3 Church Accounts Department to organise. Or you can choose to make a payment from money currently available or when you receive a work bonus, tax refund or via an asset sale.

Online Donation: Is a popular and convenient way of giving via the Internet. To donate online, click on the ‘Online Giving’ link on the homepage or at the top of this page. Complete the information required and select the ‘Rise and Build’ field. Then continue with ‘proceed’.

The purpose of this paper is to disprove and expose Dr Phil Pringle’s unscriptural doctrine of tithing as found and written in his book ‘Keys to Financial Excellence’.
Paul the apostle exhorts us in the book of Titus to ‘convict those who contradict’.
Paul also makes it very clear that those who do contradict the scripture do so for personal monetary gain –

“…Clinging to the faithful Word according to the teaching, that he may be able both to encourage by sound doctrine and to convict the ones contradicting. For there are indeed many insubordinate men, empty talkers and mind-deluders, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouth you must stop, who overturn whole houses, teaching things which they ought not for the sake of ill gain…” Titus 1.9-10, Literal translation of the Holy Bible

I should say from the outset that I am not attacking Dr Pringle’s character; I am however exposing his false teaching and unscriptural doctrine. I will be quoting parts of Dr Pringle’s book and then making comment. The tithe teaching begins on Page 55 and is labelled key number 9, ‘Tithing’. It concludes on Page 91 with key number 15 labelled ‘Deliverance through the tithe’. He also makes mention of ‘tithing principles’ throughout his book and I will be referencing these some of these quotes as well.

COMMENT
From the outset Dr Pringle would have you believe that tithing is a commandment from God for you today.
What he fails to acknowledge though is that Malachi was written to the physical nation of Israel living under the Law of Moses. In the preceding verse, Malachi declares that the ‘whole nation’ was under a curse.

“…For you have robbed me, even this whole nation…” K.J.V

What nation? Is it Australia? USA? England? New Zealand? No, Israel was nation under the curse.

All of the Old Testament law was written specifically to the Nation of Israel.

We are living under a new dispensation, the ‘administration of the secret’ or ‘dispensation of the spirit’ and these things that were observed by physical Israel are now type and shadow for us, spiritual Israel. They are NOT literal actual works we need to physically implement.

“…But if the ministry of death having been engraved in letters in stone was with glory, so as that the sons of Israel could not gaze into “the face of Moses” because of the glory of his face, which was to cease, how much rather the ministry of the Spirit will be in glory! For if the ministry of condemnation was glory, much rather the ministry of righteousness abounds in glory…”
2 Corinthians 3.7-9, Literal Translation of the Holy Bible

“…And to enlighten all as to what is the administration of the secret, which has been concealed from the eons in God…that now may be made known…”
Ephesians 3.9-10, Concordant Literal Version

“…In that he says “A new covenant” he has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away…” Hebrews 8.13, K.J.V

“…For the Law had a shadow of the coming good things, not the image itself of those things…”Hebrews 10.1, Literal Translation of the Holy Bible

Dr Pringle also neglects to inform the reader that the Law was a total package deal; it was never a compilation of commands that you chose from at will. The tithe was certainly included as part of the Law but guess what?
So was circumcision (Joshua 5.2), abstaining from unclean meats (Leviticus 11.4-8), wearing tassels on your cloak (Deuteronomy 22.12), not working on the Sabbath (Exodus 16.29) and a whole host of other stringent requirements.

Funny don’t you think how Dr Pringle is quick to point out the tithe law but neglects all the other equally important aspects of the Mosaic covenant? Yes, I think so too!

The simple fact of the matter is that if you insist on keeping one part of the law, you then become a debtor to do the entire law of Moses:

“…For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace…” Galatians 5:3 K.J.V

Paul uses the “circumcision” aspect of the law here because that was the issue that Pharisee converts of his day insisted upon. Indeed, the basic starting point of the physical law was circumcision but the message is clear – if you want to keep the law, you need to keep the entire law, not just the parts that have an appeal to your own demographic sensibilities. Furthermore, money was NEVER a tithe-able commodity.
Fisherman didn’t tithe fish, merchants were unable to tithe on their stock, candlestick makers couldn’t tithe candles, jewellers couldn’t tithe precious stones or gems and a seamstress or tailor didn’t tithe on their stores and stocks of clothing. The only time God asked the Israelites for gold and silver was in the construction of his dwelling place while they were in the wilderness. Did he demand it of them? No, absolutely not! Everyone who had a willing heart could freely give it if they chose –

“…And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, and let them take an offering for Me. From every man whose heart impels him, let them take My offering. And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, and silver, and bronze; and blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and goats hair; and rams’ skin dyed red, and dugong skins, and acacia wood; oil for the light, spices for the oil of anointing, and for the incense of perfumes; onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod, and for the breast pocket. And let them make a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell in their midst…”
Exodus 25.1-8, Literal translation of the Holy Bible

QUOTE, PAGE 57 –
This point of revival cannot be ignored. When people come back to the Lord, repent at the altar, renew their commitment to follow Christ and start being part of the church again, one of the most important areas to revive is bringing tithes into the church.

COMMENT
Dr Pringle is making a blatant unscriptural statement here.
He implies that tithing is an essential ingredient to your walk with Christ.
How is it then that nowhere in the records of the early church do we find any of the apostles teaching or advocating tithing? If it were ‘one of the most important areas’ as Dr Pringle states, why is it that we find no evidence whatsoever that tithing was even taught?

In Hebrews 6.1 we are told clearly what the foundational principles for new believers are –

“…For this reason, having left the subject of the beginning [principles] of Christ, let us continue being moved to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead [fig., utterly useless] works and of faith toward God, of [the] teaching [or, doctrine] of baptisms [or, immersions] and of [the] laying on of hands and of [the] resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment…” Analytical Literal Translation

So in this scripture we learn what the basics of following Christ are. We have six fundamentals –

But hang on, where is tithing? Didn’t Dr Pringle say it was ‘one of the most important’? If it’s so important it must be here. Why isn’t it then? Because it was NEVER taught, advocated or endorsed by the New Testament church.
In all of his epistles Paul NEVER mentions tithing.
If, as Dr Pringle implies, the tithe were ‘one of the most important areas’ then surely Paul would have commended or criticised the churches he oversaw in regards to it?

QUOTE, PAGE 57 –
Some people argue against tithing and giving offerings to God. Some have religious reasons.

COMMENT
Dr Pringle is confusing the issue at hand with this statement.
He is putting tithing in the same category as giving offerings. We are all called to give when and where we are able to, without a doubt. I am in no objection to people giving monetary funds to a church or any other non-profit organisation for that matter. An offering is just that, something freely given without restriction. A tithe is ten percent – a specified and stated amount. Pringle then makes a statement designed to prejudice the reader saying ‘some have religious reasons’. In other words, if you question his line of thought you are being religious and dogmatic. No Dr Pringle – you are just a man! God’s word is the foundational aspect we should be leaning on and looking to for truth, not your say so and opinion.

QUOTE, PAGE 57-58 –
They say tithing is an Old Testament practice that Jesus released us from when he released us from living under the law. This is wrong. Jesus himself taught us to tithe.

Matthew 23.23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint, anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone”. He is clearly declaring that the scribes and Pharisees should have been looking after justice, mercy and faith as well as tithing.

COMMENT
Dr Pringle here is basing his justification for tithing on a single scripture in Matthew that has Christ talking to Pharisees of all people. This is just so terribly sad! What Dr Pringle fails to see is that Christ pronounces ‘Woe’ upon the Pharisees. No not abundance from heaven and blessings forevermore but ‘woe’. And let us not forget whom exactly Christ was speaking to –

Was Christ speaking to his disciples when he said ‘These you ought to have done?’ NO. Was Christ speaking to the multitudes who sat at his feet to be healed and set free when he said ‘These you ought to have done’? NO. And Pringle honestly thinks that this applies to believers in Christ – that is unbelievable!

Don’t forget that the Pharisees were the church of the day.
They were religious bigots and Jesus likened them to ‘vipers’ and ‘whitewashed walls’ of all things. Jesus was never impressed by the fact that they tithed!
In chapter 23 of Matthew (the same chapter) Jesus makes the following comments to these same Pharisees –

“…Now woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are locking the kingdom of the heavens in front of men. For you are not entering, neither are you letting those entering to enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are going about the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and whenever he may be becoming one, you are making him more than double a son of Gehenna than you are. Woe to you, blind guides! Who are saying, whoever should be swearing by the temple, it is nothing; yet whoever should be swearing by the gold of the temple is owing. Blind guides! Straining out a gnat, yet swallowing a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are cleansing the outside of the cup and the plate, yet inside they are brimming with rapacity and incontinence…”
Matthew 23.13-17, 24, Concordant Literal Version

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I do not see Christ pronouncing blessings and abundance upon the tithe-paying Pharisees! Maybe I’m missing something?
The facts are that the Pharisees were under the laws and customs of Moses and as such were bound to obey all of the commandments and requirements contained in that law. They like Dr Pringle thought they could gain righteousness through works of self and the blessing of God through tithing. Did they get it? No, certainly not! In fact they were so blinded by their self-righteousness they even went so far as to crucify Christ.

Jesus being a carpenter would not have been obligated to tithe anyway; He was however obligated by the Law of Moses to pay an annual temple tax (Exodus 30.13-16, 38.26)

He would have paid that wouldn’t he? Jesus would have paid the temple tax surely? No – He did not! (Well he did eventually but read on…)

Christ didn’t keep the Sabbath because he was ‘Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12.8) and likewise and in the same manner he had no intention of paying the annual temple tax because he is ‘Lord of the temple’

“…When they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the half shekel (the temple tax) went up to Peter and said, Does not your teacher pay the half shekel? He answered, Yes. And when he came home, Jesus spoke to him (about it) first, saying, What do you think Simon? From whom do earthly rulers collect duties or tribute – from their own sons or from others not of their own family? And when Peter said, From other people not of their own family, Jesus said to him, Then the sons are exempt. However in order not to give offence and cause them to stumble go down to the sea and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open it’s mouth you will find there a shekel. Take it and give it to them to pay the temple tax for me and for yourself…” Matthew 17.24-27, Amplified Version

What an amazing little piece of scripture!
Dr Pringle though tells us that ‘Jesus himself taught us to tithe’. How exactly Pringle figures that is beyond me!

Simon was forced to lie because he knew Christ had no intention of paying the temple tax. Jesus told Simon clearly that Kings and Sons of the King are exempt from these things. And yet, Dr Pringle says ‘Jesus himself taught us to tithe’. Once again Dr Pringle’s foolish unscriptural arguments amount to nothing in the light of God’s word.

QUOTE, PAGE 58 –
Anyway, tithing did not originate with the Old Testament.
It is not something that came into being under the Law of Moses. Abraham tithed (Gen 14.20).
He lived at least 400 years before the law was introduced.
Jacob tithed (Genesis 28.22). He also lived hundreds of years before the instigation of the law.

COMMENT
Dr Pringle misses it once again with this statement.
He obviously cannot see past his idol of finance to the truths of scripture. Abraham DID NOT tithe – he gave a ‘one off’ offering of ten percent. He then gave the other ninety percent back to the King of Sodom.

You will note that Dr Pringle has failed to include the scriptural quote: why is that?
Because he knows that his argument for Abraham establishing a tithe principle is flawed.
Let’s examine the Genesis 14 account of Abraham ‘tithing’ –

“…And blessed, praised and glorified be God most high, who has given your foes into your hand! And (Abram) gave him a tenth (of all he had taken). And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons but keep the goods for yourself. But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand and sworn to the Lord, God most high, the possessor and maker of Heaven and Earth, that I would not take a thread or shoelace of anything that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich…”
Genesis 14.20 Amplified Version

The scripture is in relation to Abraham defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him. As a consequence of the victory, Abraham takes possession of the bounty and also his nephew Lot who had been captured.
It is here that Abraham is mentioned as giving a tenth or tithe of the spoils of war to Melchizedek the high priest of Salem. He then gives the other 90 percent of the booty to the King of Sodom. So what does Abraham decide to keep? Well… Nothing!

He was already an extremely wealthy man. With over 300 servants alone (Genesis 14.14) you can imagine how much else he must have had in proportion to his servants.

Looking at the scripture closely, all that really transpired was that Abraham gave Melchizedek an offering from the SPOILS OF WAR.
Is your paycheck each week from the ‘spoils of war’? Perhaps if you decided to fund your own guerrilla war in a 3rd world country somewhere you could then give 10% of the funds you receive to the church? That would be an equivalent scenario!

Abraham gave a ‘one-off’ offering and NOT anything from his personal possessions and certainly not in accordance with the Mosaic tithe Law at all. To argue that he somehow set a precedent in relation to tithing is foolish.
If you take that line of thought then you’d better be prepared to give away the other 90% of your income too!

There is never any instance before or after this where Abraham gave a tenth of anything again.
If he had in fact ‘set a precedent’ and God was adamant that Abraham give us an example of how to live out our faith, do you really think God could not have arranged another scenario to drop a hint or 2 our way? If as Dr Pringle teaches, that he had ‘set a precedent’ then surely Abraham would have continued to ‘tithe’ after this occasion?

So now onto Jacob. Dr Pringle says clearly that ‘Jacob tithed’.
Well, did he? No he did not – Dr Pringle is again twisting scripture to suit his agenda.
Pringle again fails to quote the actual scripture in relation to Jacob; probably in the hope readers will gloss over the reference but won’t bother to check it for themselves. Let us examine the scripture in question –

“…Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me food to eat and clothing to wear, so that I may come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God; and this stone which I have set up as a pillar (monument) shall be God’s house (a sacred place to me), and of all (the increase of possessions) that You give me I will give the tenth to You…”
Genesis 28.20-22, Amplified Version

Jacob had been sent by his father Isaac to Padan-aram to find a wife for himself from his Uncle’s family.
On the journey, he stops to rest for the night and has an amazing encounter with God. God promises to watch over him and to bless his offspring. Jacob wakes from the dream declaring that the place was none other than the house of God and the gateway to heaven! (Genesis 28.17)
It is then that Jacob makes this vow to God; well, in actual fact it’s really just a bargain.
He declares that IF God will look after him and bless him he’ll give a tenth of his increase back to God (Genesis 28.20) It was a conditional arrangement and it was dependant on a few things happening –

God had to be with him.
God had to keep him in the way that he went.
God had to give him bread to eat and clothes to put on.
He had to come again to his father’s house IN PEACE; don’t forget that he’d left on VERY bad terms with Esau!

Jacob vowed that only AFTER all these things had happened that ‘then shall the Lord be my God’.
Once that happened, he would then institute a tithe or tenth on his goods.

We know he worked for Laban (his Uncle) for at least 14 years! By then he had still NOT returned to his father in peace. In a nutshell all Jacob really said was ‘You bless me first God and I’ll bless you back later’.
Oh and by the way, there is NEVER any indication that Jacob actually stuck to his deal with God, we are not told either way if he actually followed through with it.
If you want to follow in Jacob’s footsteps, make a list of everything you can think of and then tell God that after he gets all the goodies your way you’ll start tithing because that’s all that Jacob did. And yet Dr Pringle says ‘Jacob tithed’.
This is an outright lie designed to support and endorse his false teaching and is in no way maintained by scripture!

QUOTE, PAGE 58 –
Recently I heard someone attempting to argue that even though tithing was introduced before Abraham, so was circumcision, and that therefore, because circumcision finished with the beginning of the New Testament, so too did tithing. This is not sound thinking or clear logic at all.
First, the bible never states that tithing is done away with under the New Testament, but clearly states that circumcision is. If tithing were to be done away with as with circumcision there would be no question. It would be just as clearly stated.

COMMENT
With this statement Dr Pringle shows just how off the mark he is when it comes to understanding scripture and the truths of Gods word. He also contradicts scripture on a number of points.
Firstly circumcision is NOT done away with but instead of being a physical act by eliminating the foreskin of the penis, circumcision is now ‘of the heart’. It is not done away with at all –

“…So circumcise the foreskin of your (minds and) hearts; be no longer stubborn and hardened…” Deuteronomy 10.16, Amplified Version

“…For he is not a real Jew who is only one outwardly and publicly, nor is (true) circumcision something external and physical. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and (true) circumcision is of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal (matter). His praise is not from men but from God…”
Romans 2.28-29, Amplified Version

Again, the idea is that the spiritual replaces the physical. The physical was only ever a mere shadow type of the spiritual anyway. This is what physical Israel and Dr Pringle misunderstand.

Dr Pringle then goes on to say that because tithing is not specifically mentioned as being done away with then we obviously have an obligation to continue it. What a thick-headed dull-minded thing to say!
In Proverbs we are admonished to answer a fool according to his folly (Proverbs 26.5) and that is what I shall now do with Dr Pringle. Ok Phil, so tithing is never SPECIFICALLY stated as being done way with.

But hang on just a second, why don’t I see you getting about with fringes and tassels on the corner of your clothing?

“…And the Lord said to Moses, Speak to the Israelites and bid them make fringes or tassels on the corners in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and put upon the fringe of the borders or upon the tassel of each corner a cord of blue…That you may remember and do all my commandments and be holy to your God…”
Numbers 15.37-38, 40, Amplified Version

We are not told SPECIFICALLY that this particular law is done away with are we? Since you’re so keen to take this line of thought then I suggest you crack out that sewing kit and tassel yourself up Dr Pringle – oh and don’t forget the blue thread! Oh and another thing Dr Pringle, where’s your beard? Yeah and what’s with that close haircut of yours?

“…You shall not round the corners of the hair of your heads nor trim the corners of your beard…” Leviticus 19.27, Amplified Version

But since there’s no New Testament scripture SPECIFICALLY stating this has been done away with then shouldn’t you be adhering to it? I mean that is your reasoning for tithing is it not?
Hopefully you can see how profoundly dumb Dr Pringle’s reasoning and his arguments are for tithing.
Just because something is not specifically stated as being done away with does not mean we need to still adhere to it.

This was a hard fact for even the apostles of Christ to come to terms with. In Acts we read of Peter’s struggle to differentiate between his adherence to Mosaic Law and his newfound freedom in Christ –

“…Now, on the morrow, as they are journeying and drawing near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray about the sixth hour of the day. Now he became ravenous and wanted to taste food. Now, while they are preparing it, an ecstasy came on him, and he is beholding heaven open and a certain utensil descending, as a large sheet, with four edges, being let down on the earth, in which belonged all the quadrupeds and reptiles of the earth and the flying creatures of heaven. And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter! Sacrifice and eat!” Yet Peter said, “Far be it from me, Lord, for I never ate anything contaminating and unclean!” And again, a second time, a voice came to him, “What God cleanses, do not you count contaminating! Now this occurred thrice, and straightway the utensil was taken up into heaven…”
Acts 10.9-16, Concordant Literal Version

Peter was in fact struggling to accept the fact that Gentile converts were actually being redeemed and were now a part of the Kingdom of God. It would be fair to say that He had a hard time even associating with them! Being Jewish Peter would have been raised to be highly un-accepting of non-Jewish peoples or Gentiles; they were actually referred to as ‘Dogs’ as a reference to how beneath them they viewed them to be. God had to get Peter to see the truth of this fact.
To do so God showed Peter a vision with all sorts of unclean animals (unclean as defined by the Mosaic Law) and commanded him to eat them! What it comes down to is that either Christ abolished some of the Law or he abolished all of it. Which one was it?

“…By abolishing in his (own crucified) flesh the enmity (caused by) the law with its decrees and ordinances…” Ephesians 2.15, Amplified Version

“…Christ purchased our freedom (redeeming us) from the curse (doom) of the Law (and it’s condemnation) by (himself) becoming a curse for us…” Galatians 3.13, Amplified Version

People like Dr Pringle just cannot see that the Law pointed to Christ himself. Christ was the fulfilment of the Law; he himself was never obligated to live out the exacting specifications of it and neither are we. If Christ was obligated to live out all of the Law then why did he constantly flout the Sabbath and dismiss the temple tax? Because Christ is Lord of the Law! The Pharisees and Dr Pringle seem to prefer the shadow itself rather than the body that casts the shadow –

“…Let no one, then, be judging you in food or in drink or in the particulars of a festival, or of a new moon, or of Sabbath’s, which are a shadow of those things which are impending – yet the body is the Christ’s…” Colossians 2.16-17, Concordant Literal Version

Paul could have gone on and stated every single facet of the Mosaic Law in the above scripture but the meaning is clear to those with ‘eyes to see and ears to hear’. The Law was simply a shadow; the body casting that shadow is Christ! Dr Pringle – give this idol of your heart up. You cannot support any of your arguments scripturally; 2 pages into your tithe article and already I’ve blown your reasoning and petty doctrine sky high.

Dr Pringle then goes to further confuse his readers by saying that physical baptism is necessary to be saved (I have not included the quote as it is not directly related to the tithe doctrine)
I won’t go into this whole topic now but again his Pharasitical mindset cannot comprehend that physical actions are shadows of spiritual realities. What about the thief on the cross with Christ? Was he baptised? No. Will he be saved? Yes. Read the scripture yourself in Luke 23.43

QUOTE, PAGE 59 –
The real problem is not theological, although we can certainly gloss up a miserly attitude with some scripture and high-sounding theology.
People who have a problem with tithing generally have a problem with giving.
Often they go looking for a scripture they can bend into a shape that sanctifies their position.

COMMENT
Here again Dr Pringle uses sub-text and sly remarks to prejudice his reader into thinking that tithing and giving are one and the same. They are absolutely not the same.
Giving is just that – giving. It is free from restraint and bounds. Tithing is a regulated specific amount that dictates what one must do and give. Pringle also insinuates that those who are ‘anti-tithing’ have a miserly attitude!
Again we see that the man has no sound scriptural reasoning and must resort to cheap tricks to emotionally manipulate his readers. He also states that the problem is ‘not theological’ What the? I think I’ve disproved that easily enough! Dr Pringle’s problem is that he CANNOT back up his false doctrine with any pertinent scripture or sound reasoning. Again he uses off handed comments to suggest that people who disagree with his false teaching are then forced to ‘sneak about’ within the bible to justify their reasoning. No quite the opposite in fact; Dr Pringle is the one who is botching and bending scripture into shape to suit his own ends.

QUOTE, PAGE 59 –
It is hard to understand that people who claim they love God resist the call to bring the tithe, which is His, into His house to give to Him.

COMMENT
Dr Pringle is way off base here if he thinks God is dwelling in some man made building of bricks and mortar. Again he shows just how immature his spiritual understanding really is.
Where is the House or Temple of God situated? Does God actually dwell in a debt free multi-million dollar suite of church buildings at Oxford Falls?

“…Are you not aware that you are a temple of God and the spirit of God is making its home in you? If anyone is corrupting the temple of God, God will be corrupting him, for the temple of God is holy, which you are…”
1 Corinthians 3.16-17, Concordant Literal Version

“…Or are you not aware that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own?”1 Corinthians 6.19, Concordant Literal Version

So tell me Dr Pringle just how do we ‘bring the tithe, which is His, into his house’ if as we just read the house of God is within us? Can you answer me that one? No – you can’t! Dr Pringle just cannot get past his idol of finance to the great and wonderful spiritual truths of God’s word. He’d have you believe that his multi million dollar complex at Oxford Falls is in fact the ‘House of God’. Nothing could be further from the truth.

QUOTE, PAGE 59-60 –
People who fight tithing must imagine that they are being robbed by giving it to God.
Yet God says it is actually him who is being robbed. God does not cheat us by asking us to give to him. We do not lose through giving to God. Rather we cheat ourselves out of blessing when we do not give to the Lord. God is a good God. He is not going to ask you to do something that short-changes your life. You will be enriched through your obedience to God, not impoverished.

COMMENT –
And again Dr Pringle confuses the reader by tagging giving in with tithing. They are not the same! It would appear that even he is confused on this issue. I agree with his statement that we do not lose when we give to God. This is correct and scriptural. However the context of Dr Pringle’s statement carries an implication that God requires your monetary funds. Is this true? Can this be supported with scripture? Can we actually purchase the blessing of God with finance? Let us examine a scripture in Acts of someone who attempted to do just that –

“…And the apostles in Jerusalem hearing that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who going down prayed concerning them so that they may receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen on any one of them, but they were only being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. But Simon having seen that the Holy Spirit is given through the laying on of the hands of the apostles, he offered them money, saying, Give to me also this authority that to whomever I may lay on the hands he may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, May your silver be with you into perdition, because you thought to get the gift of God through money. There is neither part nor lot to you in this matter, for your heart is not upright before the face of God. Repent, then, from this wickedness of yours, and petition God if perhaps you will be forgiven the thought of your heart…”
Acts 8.14-22, Literal Translation of the Holy Bible

So what happened here?
Simon thought he could gain the Holy Spirit and the blessings thereof through giving money to the apostles.
Like Dr Pringle he was convinced that God’s abundance and blessings would fall upon him because he was prepared to part with his financial resources.
What was Peter’s response? He rebukes this man and declares that his heart is not upright before the face of God.
We can NEVER buy anything from God – his blessings are not some cheap luxury you or I or anybody can purchase with a tithe. This is a ridiculous mindset but one that false teachers and deceivers will have you believing to be true.
If this were in fact the case, if you could actually buy God’s unparalleled blessing then why are there so many meagre Christians who tithe? I mean c’mon, think about it – If you could just tithe and have all your wildest financial dreams come to pass then EVERYONE would be doing it wouldn’t they? Of course they would! Phil Pringle’s candy-coated tithe message is very deceptive and you can very easily fall for it, I certainly did for many years.

Paul tells the Corinthian Church that many such false teachers are corrupting the word of God. How can we corrupt the word of God? Let us examine the scripture –

“…For we are not as many which corrupt the word of God…”2 Corinthians 2.17, K.J.V

The word translated ‘Corrupt’ here is a Greek word Kapeleuo and means to retail, merchandise and make money by selling. So that’s right – we can corrupt the word of God by selling the things of God and the revelations he gives us. We are told throughout scripture that we are not to engage in this! The things of God should NEVER be for sale; freely we have received and freely we should be giving. Is your book for sale Dr Pringle? Oh, yes it is!

Another scripture along this line is found in Paul’s letter to Timothy. Here Paul is speaking of men who DO NOT teach the sound and wholesome gospel of Christ –

“…Who are corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth, who imagine that godliness or righteousness is a source of profit (a money making business, a means of livelihood). From such withdraw…” 1 Timothy 6.5, Amplified Version

Dr Phil Pringle would have you thinking that Godliness and righteousness is a source of amazing prosperity and profit – just bring that tithe in and look out for the blessing! That is not the message of scripture though; in fact we are admonished to withdraw from such people. It is easy to be caught up in this message being preached by Dr Pringle and many other esteemed ‘ministers’ but we must always look to God and his word for our guidance and not man.QUOTE, PAGE 61 –
The curse of not tithing

COMMENT
Oh dear… Dr Pringle has now stooped so low as to suggest that people who do not tithe are in fact under a curse!
What is sad is that he really believes this to be true, that God is some kind of glorified penny-pinching accountant keeping track of every dollar you earn and if you fail to tithe? You better look out cause there’s a curse coming your way hard and fast! Pringle is now playing on people’s fears and is convinced that failing to tithe will earn you a firm whack up the side of the head from God: this is classic cult-like fear-mongering technique!

No, as we’ve already discussed, God never asked the Israelites to tithe money; it was never a tithe-able resource! Giving? Yes! Tithing? No! Do not be deceived by cunning arguments like the tithe doctrine. The apostle Peter had a revelation of the end time church and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit penned some pertinent scripture relating to our topic at hand.

In 2 Peter 2.1-3 we read –

“…But also false prophets came to be among the people, as also false teachers will be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive, heretical sects, and denying the Master having redeemed them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their flagrant sexually immoral ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in covetous desire [or greed], with fabricated words, they will exploit you, for whom their judgment of old is not idle, and their destruction will not sleep…” Analytical Literal Translation

“…Motivated by greed, they will exploit you with their counterfeit arguments…” Berkely Version

“…In their lust they will exploit you with cunning arguments…” Moffatt Translation

“…In their greed for MONEY they will trade on your credulity with sheer fabrications…” The New English Bible

QUOTE, PAGE 64 –
(Speaking of the city of Jericho) –
God had given strict instructions, however that everything in this city was to be destroyed. Nothing was to be taken by any Israelite. The entire city was ‘under the ban’. It was devoted to destruction. It was the first fruits of their land.
It was the tithe of the prosperity that was coming upon them.

COMMENT
Dr Pringle is entirely off the track here yet again. Yes, the city of Jericho was to be utterly destroyed and nothing was to be taken by any Israelite – that part is true. Yes it was a kind of first fruit offering but a tithe? A tithe by definition is a tenth. Did the Israelites only take ten cities of which Jericho was the first? Well, no they didn’t. They took far more than ten cities. We know for a fact that Israel under Joshua defeated thirty-one kings. A king naturally would rule over a city or large region of some sort wouldn’t he? If Jericho was in fact a tithe wouldn’t they have had to repeat this scenario for every lot of ten cities they took?
But Dr Pringle tells us that the city of Jericho was ‘a tithe of the prosperity that was coming upon them’. Again he is making blatant unscriptural assertions with this statement.

QUOTE, PAGE 65 –
The tithe has never belonged to us. The first tenth of our income is always God’s.
As mature people, it is unthinkable to expect blessing from God in one hand when we have stolen from him with the other.

COMMENT
I am constantly amazed at how little many of Christianity’s supposed ‘ministers’ actually know of God’s word. Even though Phil Pringle has a doctorate in theology (supposedly anyways) he still comes out with unscriptural nonsense and hoo-ha like this.

Dr Pringle tells us that the ‘first tenth of our income is always God’s’. Oh really?

“…And all the tithe of the herd or of the flock, whatever passes under the herdsman’s staff (by means of which each tenth animal as it passes through a small door is selected and marked), the tenth shall be holy to the Lord. The man shall not examine whether the animal is good or bad nor shall he exchange it…” Leviticus 27.32-33, Amplified Version

Can you see that scripture? I can – and what does it say? Did God want the first out of every ten animals? (note that the tithe according the scriptures was always livestock or produce, never money) No he did not! The tithe was on the tenth animal – NOT THE FIRST.

And God wasn’t overly concerned about whether the animal in question was a prime specimen or completely and utterly bogus. So even though Dr Pringle is advocating an unscriptural tithe doctrine he can’t even see fit to get the logistics or actuality of it correct – unbelievable!

You will note that again Dr Pringle makes use of sub-text to suggest that ‘mature’ people do not expect blessing from God when they have simultaneously robbed him. How is it then in Psalms we learn that God sustains ALL of the living?

“…The eyes of all hope to You and You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing…” Psalms 145.15-16, Literal Translation of the Holy Bible

We are told clearly here that God satisfies the desire of EVERY living thing; this includes the unrighteous and the wicked. No – not every ‘tithing’ thing; every living thing. Christ tells us in Matthew that his Father shows no impartiality towards people, he freely sends his blessings upon us all:

“…That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust… Matthew 5.45 K.J.V

I suggest that perhaps Dr Pringle stops writing books he knows nothing about and starts to read his bible.

CLOSING THOUGHTS
Although I had planned to make comment on all thirty-something pages of Dr Pringle’s tithing message it became abundantly clear that he really is just flogging the same old Malachi scriptures and using petty unscriptural reasoning and emotional jaunts to justify his stance on this issue. If I did make comment I would simply be repeating myself over.

Dr Pringle is like pretty much every Pentecostal minister I have met or researched, he has simply missed some very basic and fundamental truths of scripture. Like the Pharisees in the day of Christ, Dr Pringle has totally missed the truth of God’s word and has settled for physical laws and rituals believing that by observing them he is calling down the blessing of Heaven upon himself. These things were only ever shadows of the reality – Jesus Christ is the reality and in him there is freedom and fullness of life.

We read in Acts chapter 15 that there were Pharisees who had converted to Christ but who still wanted to maintain observance of physical rituals and customs from the Mosaic Law. These Pharisees had caused division in the early church –

“…But some who believed (who acknowledged Jesus as their Saviour and devoted themselves to him) belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, and they rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise the Gentile converts and to charge them to obey the laws of Moses…” Acts 15.5, Amplified Version

These same Pharisees argued that Gentile converts needed to be circumcised and obey the Laws of Moses. Well, tithing is certainly a part of the Law of Moses and don’t forget that if you’re not a Jewish person then you are by default a Gentile. The argument of the Pharisees is really no different to what Dr Pringle is preaching about tithing – different topic but exactly the same mindset. The Pharisees were convinced that circumcision was absolutely necessary and in fact they had good reason; Abraham was circumcised and he predated the Law and even Jesus himself was circumcised! (Luke 2.21)

But again it comes down to the issue of whether or not Christ’s death removed some of the Law or the entirety of it. What was the response of the apostles? Peter put it very simply.

“…Now then why do you try to test God by putting a yoke on the necks of the disciples, such as neither our forefathers nor We ourselves were able to endure…” Acts 15.10, Amplified Version

Do you see what Peter is saying? The Law is a yoke about your neck – It will restrain and constrict you.
Do you see also that Peter said ‘were able to endure’? This tells us clearly that Peter no longer adhered to the strict customs of the Mosaic Law. He understood the work of Christ and the freedom that came with it.

What is both unbelievable and rather mind-boggling is that modern day ministers think they can freely pick and choose which bits of the Mosaic Law should be re-instated. The Law was a complete package deal, always was and always will be – you can’t grab this that and the other without taking the whole thing.
The Pharisees in the early church at least understood this aspect, which is more than I can say for Dr Pringle and ministers like him. The Pharisees, like Dr Pringle, were focused on physical actions and as such were and are unable to comprehend spiritual realities. What is amazing is that Dr Pringle believes he truly has the insight into this matter.
I recently downloaded a recorded service from his church’s website.
The following quote is from the 6pm service of the 12th February 06 –

“…He (speaking of the apostle John in the book of 3 John) could pray a prayer over their lives of blessing and prosperity because he knew the truth was in their soul. And when you’ve got truth inside you, you understand the truth is tithing, the truth is giving to God, the truth being acted in our lives is actually coming to God with something more than just words – it’s substance, it’s an offering. That’s what truth is in our spirit and when we want to believe a lie it’ll take us away from that, we won’t enter into that prospering hand being upon our life that God has promised all the way through scripture…”

You can see clearly here with this statement that Dr Pringle has NO understanding whatsoever in regard to tithing – he has not a clue what he is talking about; ironically, it is he believing a lie.

Despite his doctorate in theology, he has clearly NOT studied to show himself approved and as a consequence he is unskilled in the word of righteousness (2 Timothy 2.15, Hebrews 5.3)

I pray that you, the reader, have gained some insight into the truth about tithing and that you can clearly see how manipulative and deceptive this doctrine is. If after reading everything I’ve presented in this paper you still think you can justify tithing (I didn’t say giving, I said tithing) then you obviously have an idol of finance within yourself that God will need to deal with! People like Dr Pringle who endorse this teaching are robbing God’s church of truth and denigrating the word of God for profit. I strongly suggest Dr Phil Pringle take note of the criticism outlined in this paper if only for the following reason:

Jeremiah 48:10 “…Cursed be he that does the work of the LORD deceitfully…”

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